[Goblin] Gi Ga The goblin in that estranged group that was with the protagonist when he defeated an orc. He is currently a noble class, the highest amongst the protagonist’s subordinates. He prefers to use the spear.

[Goblin] Gi Gu The former leader of the village. He was pressured by the protagonist in his goblin noble form, and was added to his subordinates. He uses the long sword, and is relatively smart for a goblin rare.

[Goblin] Gi Gi Known as a beast warrior, a goblin with the ability to tame beasts. He evolved while hunting spear deer with the protagonist. He prefers to use the axe. His goblin class is rare.

[Goblin] Gi Go A goblin with many wounds on his body. The food of his horde was stolen by the gray wolves, so he made a decision to follow the protagonist. He is the most experienced amongst the goblin rares. His weapon is a curved katana.

The humans will work to improve this village under the condition that this village will be handed over to them in the future. And since, they’ll be living in this village in the future as well, I doubt they’d cut corners in the village’s renovation.

With the monitoring of the east and the renovation of the village settled. Moreover, with the plans to eventually develop the village into a fortress in place, I’ve finally reached a point where I can start planning for the west.

Regarding that, there are only two things I know. One, the goblins’ home, the Fortress of the Abyss, lie in the west. And two, we need to pass through the region controlled by the orcs.

I should send some scouts first.

Following that train of thought, I had a scouting party formed with Gi Gu, who is from this village, and Gi Gi, the beast warrior, as the core.

Incidentally, I decided to go myself as well.

Gi Gu will be heading northwest. Gi Gi, southwest. And I’ll be heading directly west. We’ll each be scouting for half the day in our respective areas. I also ordered them to retreat immediately in case they happen to meet an orc.

But of course, I’ll be killing the orcs without question if I ever meet one along the way.

Unfortunately, that’s still impossible for Gi Gu and Gi Gi.

I had each of them take 5 goblins. And when night came, we set out.

I’ll be going with 3 goblins myself, but I’m not having them take the goblins along just for scouting. The other reason is that I want to increase the goblin rares in the army.

So 5 goblins each since there are 10 goblins whose levels are over 60 from the interview.

We’ll study the ecosystem of the area as we go.

Our goal in this mission is to find a place nearer to the Fortress of the Abyss that we can use as a base.

It’s a 10-day distance from the village; that’s not something to make light of. There might be other threats aside from the orc raids as well.

That’s why I want to find a place that we can use as a base.

A village held by the orcs, or perhaps a fortress. If possible, I’d like to find a place that has excellent defenses and plenty of stocks. If that’s not possible, then at least a place where we can sleep at.

The orcs tend to dwell in areas that have plenty of open space. It’s an orc trait. So I should be able to find orc settlements in those kind of areas.

We diligently continued onwards as we cut down the sparse trees and vegetation.

Along the way, we came across giant hornworms that had horns growing out of them. I used <<Red Snake’s Eye>>, and I found out that it was called Arrow Caterpillar. We hunted them as we went along.

The only thing we needed to pay attention to were the horns growing from their head along their back. Aside from that, they were nothing special.

We cut off their abdomen, and tasted their meat. It had a heavy taste, but was surprisingly popular even amongst the goblins.

We might be able to use these as provisions in our expedition.

Incidentally, we also came across some giant ants along the way… unfortunately we couldn’t eat them. Then there were those giant, double-neck lizards known as Lizard Double. These ones we could eat. Lastly, we came across some giant snails with thorns growing out of their shells known as Pickle Snap. We couldn’t eat them either.

I’m well aware that the monsters we will come across as we head west will change, so I want to ascertain beforehand which ones we can eat and which ones we can’t.

As expected though, there weren’t any monsters stronger than orcs. The orcs are definitely the ones in control of this region. Yet for some reason, I can’t find them no matter how much I try.

Or could it be? That I’m mistaken and the orcs actually only passed through the west?

As suspicion started to cloud my thoughts, I noticed that the sun was high up the sky.

I shouldn’t go too deep yet. The ringing bells in my chest, warning me of danger, said that, and I decided to put off the area I suspect the orcs to be living at for later.

As we went back, I had the goblins train by fighting the lizard doubles and giant ants as much as possible. When the other scouting parties, Gi Gu and Gi Ga, came back, we ended our reconnaissance.

The other scouting parties didn’t find any orcs either.

Why? The north west is one thing as the gray wolves were there, but there being no orcs in the west and south west as well? What’s going on?

Could there be something going on in the background?

If there is… then there’s only one question. That is: whether that change is good for us or bad for us.

◇◆◇

The next day、I left Gi Za and Gi Ga in charge of protecting the village and hunting for our food while I took the remaining goblin rares with me, and headed northwest.

When I left the village, Gi Za asked me if there was anything that needed to be done, and so I asked him to have a path open toward the hunting grounds of the spear deer. After all, it wouldn’t be very efficient to have to struggle just to bring back the spoils, so having the route cleared would be best.

I couldn’t find any trace of the orcs, so we’re heading back to whatever’s left of Gi Go’s village to use as a base for our reconnaissance. From there, I’m going to send my subordinates to all four directions to scout.

And so, with two goblins under every goblin rare, we headed northwest.

We already knew the path this time around, so we were able to get to Gi Go’s village much faster. We left in the morning, and by night time, we were already at the ruins of Gi Go’s village.

It’s already nighttime, so we’ll retire for the day, and scout tomorrow.

Only, there’s a little problem. I can’t fit into the entrance of the cave… Sigh, well there’s nothing else to it. I’ll just have to spend the night out in the fields. It’s only one night, so it should be fine.

I had the goblins alternate keeping watch, then I hunted some preys at my leisure. After that, I went to sleep.

◆◇◆

The next day, we went out to scout.

I instructed the goblins to return immediately should they sense danger. Then I went to the nest of the gray wolves that’s near the village.

This cave coupled with Gi Go’s cave should be able to house approximately 100 goblins.

There’s danger in living in two different places, but it’s not bad considering we’ll only be using them temporarily.

If there’re any problems, it would have to be my feelings. After all, this is the same cave where I killed the gray wolves and picked up their pups.

When I entered the cave, the only thing remaining there was the lifeless corpse of a gray wolf that’s now only pelt and bones.

I won’t ask for forgiveness for killing your spouse.

But in exchange, I will raise your pups healthy.

I gathered the bones, and dug a hole. There, I buried the lifeless corpse of the gray wolf. As for its pelt, it could be useful, so I took it with me.

You will let me use this pelt… For the sake of furthering my dream.

I looked around every corner of the cave until my subordinates’ return.

The cave was big, but it seemed to have only been inhabited by the gray wolves.

“That’s convenient,” I muttered to myself.

I waited for my subordinates as I pondered on the candidates for our base.

When dusk came, my goblin subordinates returned, and I received their report.

There were no orcs in the surrounding area.

“What’s the meaning of this?” I muttered.

I ate as I listened to my goblin subordinates’ reports, then I thought of the course we will be taking to myself.

There are no orcs a day’s distance around the settlement. Normally, that’s something I would be happy about. But for some reason, I don’t know why, there’s something tugging at me, and I can’t settle down.

We’ve searched so much. We’ve gone here and there, looking for any signs of orc, and yet we can’t find any…

There’s no point in racking my head over the orcs forever. Tomorrow, we’ll go deep into the orcs’ territory, and look for their homes.

“Gi Go,” I called. “Yes,” he responded. “Are there any areas a day’s distance from here where a hundred goblins can sleep at?”

Gi Go thought for a while, and then he nodded.

“There is the rock mountain that we used before,” he said.

I asked for the details, and apparently, when Gi Go was still a normal goblin, they lived at a rock mountain. But the orcs took over that rock mountain, so they left.

I wonder… is it too early to attack the orcs now? Should I keep on scouting?

I suppose we could take a look first, and then retreat when their numbers are too many.

With those thoughts, I decided.

“Good. We’ll prioritize that area in our reconnaissance tomorrow. Gi Go, I’ll rely on you to lead the way.” “Understood,” nodded Gi Go.

After that, we retired for the day.

◆◆◇

The next day, as soon as we finished gathering food, we headed toward the rock mountain with Gi Go leading the way.

We walked through the thickets, carefully paying attention to our surroundings. But as expected, there were no orcs.

The rock mountain, though called a mountain, isn’t very tall. It’s at most around 4 meters high. About a head taller than the taller trees. Many holes could be seen on the rock, making it look like heaps of bedrocks piled on top of another. The area surrounding that rock mountain showed proof of the orcs’ habitation as the area was cut clean.

“This way…” said Gi Go, who appeared to be puzzled at the orcs’ disappearance.

We continued to observe the rock mountain from a distance while hidden in the thickets, but no orcs ever came.

“As expected, no orcs,” I muttered.

Night drew close, and still, no orcs came.

“Let’s climb it,” I said.

With Gi Go and the rest in tow, we climbed the mountain. No orcs were there either.

“What’s going on?”

Those puzzled words echoed at the darkness, unanswered.

There, at the apex of the mountain where the land could be seen, I looked west.

The forest extended throughout the whole land, but there were spots on it where little trees could be seen. Then from a distance, a mountain that was so tall it appeared to reach the heavens could be seen.

Something is happening.

That premonition tugged at me, and when we descended the mountain, I ended the reconnaissance, and headed home.

◇◇◆◆◇◇◆◆

Gray wolf pelt acquired.

◇◇◆◆◇◇◆◆

Author’s note:

Describing topography is so difficult. Sad :(.

The reason why the cave of the gray wolves isn’t inhabited by any other creature is because the gray wolves’ stench there is thick. That smell prevents other creatures from entering.

By the way, the pelt and the bones being left behind sure feels like an item drop, huh?